Frozen dessert products such as ice cream have been enjoyed by consumers for years, but generally have not been considered to be nutritious products. Many attempts have been made to develop ice cream which retains its desirable taste but which has improved nutritious properties. For instance, several attempts have been made to produce ice cream having low levels of fat. Often, these modified ice creams sacrifice taste for improved nutritional properties, and as a result are not accepted by consumers.
Methods for manufacturing and formulating ice cream are well known. In general, the methods involve the mixing of ingredients, followed by processing and freezing. Briefly, milk of varying fat proportions and/or hydrated milk powder is combined with cane sugar or derivatives and/or corn syrups, modified food starches, maltodextrins, stabilizing gums and emulsifiers. Ice cream with high levels of fat also include the addition of cream to the mix. After the ingredients are mixed, the material is pasteurized, homogenized and chilled. This process material preferably is stored for a period of time ranging from a few hours to 24 hours. After the storage step a flavoring component is added to the mixture, if desired. If chocolate ice cream is being prepared, cocoa is added in the first mixing step and does not need to be added after the storage. Following the flavoring step the material is partially frozen, packaged and then completely frozen.
The percentage of solids incorporated into the mixture at the first step is generally carefully analyzed prior to pasteurization. It is important to confirm the amount of solids in the ice cream in order to determine the required pasteurization temperature and time as well as for quality assurance of the batching procedure. The percentage of solids at that stage of the method is an indication of the density of the product. The final density will depend on the amount of air incorporated when freezing. Solids exceeding 45% are typically considered unsuitable or problematic for commercial manufacturing. High percentages of solids and viscous mixtures increase the probability of “burn on” during pasteurization and/or clogging and disrupted production flow during cooling. As solids are cooked onto the pasteurization plates, off flavors may result causing spoilation of the entire mixture. Chocolate or dark mixes tend to be more forgiving because of the strong flavor characteristic of the chocolate. Generally, 45% solids is generally considered to be the standard manufacturing upper limit for ice cream mixes.